Fendi kicks off New York Fashion Week by celebrating the Baguette

Fendi kicked off New York's Fashion Week with a show celebrating its flagship Baguette bag, in a strong comeback for the runway after pandemic disruption.

The Italian luxury house pulled out all the stops 25 years after the small bag became a fashion staple when it was carried by actress Sarah Jessica Parker on "Sex and the City," with 1990s supermodel Linda Evangelista closing out the show, 15 years after she last walked a runway.

The bag's creator Silvia Venturini Fendi and the artistic director of Fendi's women's collections, Kim Jones, collaborated with designer Marc Jacobs, Tiffany & Co., Sarah Jessica Parker herself and the Japanese bag manufacturer Porter.

The result was an entire collection designed around the compact, rectangular purse, known for being worn under the shoulder, like carrying a baguette.

With techno music pounding through Manhattan's Hammerstein Ballroom, models paraded with every form of the Baguette possible.

There were bags, yes, but also mini Baguettes stitched on to Baguettes, or woven into the fabric of the clothes themselves - pockets, parkas and sweaters; parachute skirts, cellophane opera capes and large fur hats - recycled, says Fendi.

Silver and fluorescent yellow tones ran throughout, in homage to the glass facades of New York's skyscrapers and to the safety vests worn by the city's ubiquitous workers.

Meanwhile, the triumphant return of Evangelista came a year after she announced she was stepping out of the spotlight after botched cosmetic treatments.

She was not the only star: Sarah Jessica Parker, of course, also attended; as did South Korean actor and model Lee Min-ho, who was greeted by a cheering crowd as he exited on to 34th Street.

COVID-19 saw Fashion Week...